SCOPE AND SEQUENCE IN CURRUCULUM

ORGANIZATION
Scope – it is the total breadth of the activity in a subject field. This determines the
extent or limits of activity or coverage.
Example:
1. Economic Security 5. Food Production
2. Peace and Order 6. Recreation
3. Hygiene and Sanitation 7. Civic Life
4. Home Beautification 8. Moral Life

Sequence – is the placement of curriculum content or learning experience from

the standpoint of time.
Example:

Grades
I & II III IV V VI

Home and Living in our The Filipino and The Filipino The Philippines in
family life and town and their past. nation and its the community of
living in our province. resources. Eastern and
schools Western
hemispheres and in
the emerging work
community

Steps in Curriculum Organization

1. Consideration of the educational aims to be achieved.
2. Formulation of educational objectives.
3. Selection and organization of the content.
4. Procedures and methods to be used to accomplish aims.
5. Selection of techniques for the evaluation of outcomes.
6. The selection of references and materials to be used by the learners and by the
teachers.
7. Determination of specific grade outcomes and standards of attainment.
 Selection and Organization of Content and learning
Experiences in Curriculum Development

Curriculum Organization – is the systematic arrangement of content and

educational learning experiences for the effective employment of human and
material resources for the attainment of educational objectives.
- refers to the structure and form of the curriculum.
Types of Curriculum Organization
1. Traditional Curriculum Patterns
2. Integrative Curriculum Patterns
3. Unified Program
1. Traditional Curriculum
a. Subject curriculum – is an organization in which the school subjects
constitute the basis for organizing the school experiences of learners.
b. Correlated curriculum – is one that articulates and establishes
relationships between two or more subjects on the basis of a topic or a
theme, or teaching similar topics on two or more subjects simultaneously in
an effort to help students gain a better understanding of such topics.
c. Broad Fields Curriculum – is essentially an effort to overcome the
compartmentalization and atomization of the curriculum by combining
several specific areas into larger fields.
2. Integrative Curriculum - entirely eliminates school subject division and
broad fields of subject matter and organizes the learning experiences of the
work of the school around the learner’s needs, interests, abilities, major
functions of social life, and normal activities of learners.
a. Learner-Centered Curriculum – is one that organizes its learning
experiences and content around normal child activities such as exploring,
listening, storytelling, playing and listening.
b. Experience Curriculum is one that places emphasis on the immediate felt
needs of learners and not on the anticipated needs and interest.
c. Core Curriculum – is also called the social functions or Areas of Living
Curriculum.
- is intended to enable the learner to study problems that demand
personal and social action in the contemporary world.
3. Unified Program
- According to William B. Ragan, there should be a balance between
extremes in educational theory and educational practice.
 Curriculum Issues, Concerns and Responses

Curriculum managers and educational experts are always looking for

better ways to achieve better learning through teaching. However,
curriculum innovations seemed to be difficult for many, issues which need to
be addressed. Certain aspects need to be clarified in order to overcome the
attitude and feelings that create some concerns.

Curricular Issues and Concerns

• Poor academic performance of the learners. Issues on the varied

implementation of the curriculum among schools and teachers seem to
be the one of the reasons for the prevailing low performance of the
schools all over the country. There is perennial complaint about books
and other instructional materials. Overcrowded classrooms do not
provide a good learning environment.
• Curricular innovations lack the sense of ownership from
stakeholders. Sometimes the implementers lack full understanding of
the changes or modifications that they are doing. The goal is unclear,
thus there are a lot of questions in the implementation as well as
evaluation from concerned persons. Because of these concerns, there
is little support that comes from other stakeholders. They just leave
the school to do it their own thus, giving the classroom teacher the
burden.
• Some curricular innovations are results of bandwagon but are not
well supported by the managers. In desire of some schools to be
part of global educational scenario, changes and innovations are
drastically implemented even if the school is not ready. They jus have
to show that they are also keeping abreast of the development even if
their equipment is insufficient.
• Lack of regular monitoring and evaluation. After a new curriculum
has been installed, it is left unattended. Very little means is provided
to find out if the implementation is running smoothly or not. When the
time of implementation ends, sometimes there is no evaluation
aspects, thus the innovation cannot be judged as failure or success for
it to be continued or not.
• Innovations result to teacher burn out. With so many new changes
taking place in the curriculum, many teachers are getting burn out.
They get so tired quickly and motivation is very low because they
cannot cope up with rapid changes that take place.
• Innovations are not communicated to all. Only the managers or the
proponents understand the changes. Those who are directly involved
merely follow hook line and sinker. This is called regimentation.
Responses to Issues and Concerns

• The BEC is an example of an innovation that tries to address the

continuous decline in the learners’ performance in basic education and
the DepEd is eager to provide support for its implementation. Among
the support that DepEd provided were the fast tracking of textbook
procurement, the retraining and upgrading of teachers, the teacher
induction program, the support of principals and more initiatives.
More school buildings were constructed and computers and other
technology related equipment are provided.
• In the installation of a new curriculum or innovation, all stakeholders
should be involved. Even in the planning stage, consultations should
be held. Right at the beginning, the students, teachers, alumni,
industry and other sectors involved in workshops, conferences and
consultations.
• There is a need to respond to the fast changing times in terms of
school curriculum innovations but the steps however, should be well
planned and well studied. Changing for the sake of change is useless
or even irrelevant if the innovation is not well studied.
• General practice seems to show that when anew curriculum is
introduced or implemented, it ends without report of result. However,
because this issue has been raised again and again, it is noteworthy to
find new curricular programs have now embedded monitoring and
evaluation in its plan. In fact, in the school-based innovations,
principals have been empowered to conduct monitoring new
curricular programs.
• Collaboration in the implementation of a new curriculum is very
necessary. In School heads or managers, teachers, and learners should
have adequate information about the innovation before it will be
introduced. They must even help in deciding whether such innovation
should be introduced or not.
 Approaches to Curriculum Design
There are three commonly used approaches to curriculum design. These
approaches are subject-centered, curriculum, learner-centered curriculum,
and problem-centered. Each of these approaches has several specific
examples.
I. Subject-Centered Curriculum
This model focuses on the content of the curriculum. This corresponds
mostly to the textbook, written for the specific subject.
Henry Morrison and William Harris- are the few curricularists who were
firm believers of this design.
a. Subject Design- is the oldest and so far the most familiar design for
teachers, parents and layman.
b. Discipline Design- focuses on the academic disciplines.
c. Correlation Design- This comes from a core, correlated curriculum
design that links, separate subject designs in order to reduce
fragmentation.
d. Broad-Field Design/Interdisciplinary- is a variation of the subject-
centered design.
II. Learner-Centered Curriculum
The philosophy underlying in this curriculum design is that the child is
the center of the educational process and the curriculum should be build
upon his interest, abilities, purposes and needs.
a. Child-Centered Design- This design is often attributed to the
influence of John Dewey, Rouseau, Pestallozi, and Froebel. Learners
interact with the teacher and environment.
b. Experience-Centered Design- believes that the interest of learners
cannot be pre-planned.
c. Humanistic Design- the development of self is the ultimate objective
of learning.
Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers- are the key lead personalities in this
curriculum design.
II. Problem-Centered Curriculum
This design draws on social needs, problem, interest and abilities of the
learners.
d. Life-Situations Design- The contents are organized in ways that
allow students to clearly view problem areas clearly. .
e. Core Design- it is centered on general education and the problems are
based on common human activities.
 Implementing Curriculum Change
There must be an examination of the place of formative process and
summative evaluations of curriculum programs and of the practical materials
for the actual process of installing new curricula in schools.
Change and the Curriculum Development
Before a developer can develop the skills needed to manage of the
programs of innovations, a curriculum developer must have some
knowledge of the change process itself. He must plan for the consequences
that arise from the different change strategies employed. Effective
curriculum change program must maintain the relevance of the schools to
the current needs of the society.
Management of Change
Change- is defined as any alteration of the properties of one or more system
elements; the relationship between system elements; the properties
of the client system.

Client System- defined as any recipient of a change element; any group of

system elements characterized by natural boundaries (a school, a
community, a nation).

System Elements- is defined as discreet phenomena whether material

(buildings, students, .people, pupils) or immaterial (ideas, attitudes,
values) that are interrelated and can be considered as part of client
system.

Change Element- is defined as a material or immaterial phenomenon that is

foreign or new to the client system, this includes new combinations
of system elements. (ex. new relationship).

Change Agent- is defined as the carrier of the change element.

Resistance to Change- is defined efforts of the client system or of

individual system elements to frustrate or slow the introduction of a
change element or to alter its properties.
 Persons Involved in Curriculum Design
The persons involved in curriculum design are teachers, students,
administration, DepEd/CHED, alumni, parents, professionals, organizations, and
business organizations. These are the persons who support and give life to the
curriculum.
1. Internal- means inside
a. Teachers- are the developers and implementers of the curriculum. They are
the curriculum maker. The one who prepares activities for the students to
do.
b. Students- are the center of the curriculum. They are the reason why a
curriculum is developed. They are the primary stakeholder in the
curriculum. They are the ones who make the curriculum alive.
c. Administration- They are the ones who provide optimum educational
opportunities for all the children in school, like equipment, supplies,
finance, curriculum faculty and other personnel. They are the one who
prepare the school budget and assist in curriculum construction.
d. DepEd/CHED- this are the two agencies that has mandatory and regulatory
powers over the implementation of any curricula, because all schools in the
country are under the regulation of the national government as provided in
the Philippine Constitution, then the government has a great stake in
curriculum implementation.
2. External- means outside
a. Alumni- These are the graduate students, the one who are already
experienced, and benefited the effectiveness of the curriculum.
b. Parents- They are the supporters of the curriculum, because they are the
ones paying for their child’s’ education. They are willing to pay the cost of
educating their child for as long as their children get the best learning or
schooling experiences. They follow up the lessons of their children
especially in basic education. They provide curriculum materials that are
not provided in school. They provide permission for their children to
participate in various activities outside the school campus.
c. Professionals- They are engaged in an occupation as a paid job rather than
as a hobby, showing a high degree of competence. They are being asked by
curriculum specialists to contribute in curriculum review because they have
a voice in licensure examinations, curriculum enhancement and many more.
d. Organizations- A group of people identified by shared interests or purpose.
This also refers to the group of students in school.
e. Business Organization- They are the company or other organization that
buys and sells goods, makes products or provide services for a course of
study at a university, college and other education that teaches the basic
principles of business and business practices.
 Curriculum Evaluation

Every activity that has objectives needs corresponding evaluation that will
determine the extent to which goals are being achieved. Evaluation therefore, is
important for it serves as a way of making conclusions of the effectiveness of the
activity being conducted.
What is Curriculum evaluation?
Curriculum evaluation refers to a systematic process of judging the value,
effectiveness, and adequacy of a curriculum: its process, product and setting.
Steps in Evaluating the Curriculum
1. Identification of the instructional objectives.
2. Selection and administration of instruments.
3. Data collection.
4. Data analysis.
5. Interpretation.
Techniques of evaluation
1. Formative Evaluation
- is done when pupil’s achievement or written tests are administered
during preliminary tryouts of an educational program in order to improve a
proposed curriculum.
2. Summative Evaluation
- is terminal evaluation and it involves judgment of a finished product
such as teaching machine or a curriculum on the market and assessing
whether it is better than another or the best among others of its kind.
3. Payoff Evaluation
- is the examination of the effects of the instrument or curriculum on
student learning by comparing the results of pre- and post-tests or
determining the scores of the experimental group and those of controlled
group on specific criteria.
4. Intrinsic Evaluation
- refers to the assessment of the educational program or the curriculum
itself
5. Cost-Benefit Study
- is figuring out of the opportunity cost, that is, the cost of forgoing,
the next best alternative.

Marks of a Good Curriculum

1. A good curriculum is systematically planned and evaluated.
2. A good curriculum maintains balance among all aims of the school.
3. A good curriculum reflects adequately the aims of the school.
4. A good curriculum promotes continuity of experience.
5. A good curriculum arranges learning opportunities flexibly for adaptation to
particular situations and individuals.
6. A good curriculum utilizes the most effective learning experiences and
resource available.
7. A good curriculum makes maximum provision for the development of each
learner.
 Formulation of Objectives in Curriculum Design

An Activity which is intentional like the curriculum should be based for its
effectiveness upon the origin of intentions, that is, upon the valued objectives of
those and participating in the activity. Intentional, deliberate, organized activities
and pressured concentration upon some things rather than others, making of
choices and an establishment of properties.
Curriculum developers today recognize the need to translate educational aims
into educational objectives which suggest the process of and content element of
learning. This specific objective serves as a reference for classroom selection and
some modifications. It is important that the objectives must be sufficiently specific
to guide instructional decisions in making the curriculum and since these
objectives must be enumerated I a rational organization, it must propose some
kind of organizational plan to the classroom teacher.
Educational Aims and Educational Objectives
Two Kinds of Educational Aims

1. Specialized Educational Aims- which establish criteria to be met before

educational technicians who render services to others.
2. General Educational Aims- which do not impose minimum standard
achievement, since this serve all men in their individual differences for
adjustment and self-fulfillment.

Two Kinds of Educational Objectives

1. Educational Objective – is directly derived from an educational aim which

is formulated for students who are identified to their level of education, for
example, primary, intermediate, secondary, collegiate, or college level.
2. Instructional Objective – is suggested by an educational objective and
educational aims.
Characteristics of Educational Objectives
Rational curriculum development demands that educational objectives meet
the following requirements:
1. Comprehensive. Full implications of educational aims may be returned to
the objectives in the process of derivation among substantive elements and
transactions among the curriculum developers at the various curriculum
planning.
2. Consistency. Logical faithfulness of the objectives to aims as well as that
the objectives must be maintained. The different objective must relate with
the other and be supportive of the educational aims.
3. Attainability. The objective must be achievable by the students educational
purpose, result of studies in psychology may be used in achieving the
attainability or not of objectives.
4. Feasibility. Educational objectives must be evaluated in the ways of
practical considerations including teacher competence, available
instructional materials, time allotment, expenses involved, and the prejudice
of the community served by the educational system.
 Functions of Educational Objectives
Educational aims are stated in general levels in order to provide orientation
to the main emphasis in education al programs. The educational objectives
however, are more specific which describes behaviors or programs to be attained
in a particular unit, a subject matter, course, educational level program.
The function of the educational objective is to guide the making of
curriculum decisions on what to cover, what to emphasize, what to select, and
which learning experience to stretch.
Guidelines in the Formulation of Educational Objectives
1. Educational objectives must be clearly conceived and clearly stated.
2. A statement of objectives describes both the kind of behavior expertise and
the content or the context on which the behavior is applied.
3. Complex educational objectives need to be stated analytically and
specifically enough so that there is no doubt as the kind of behavior
expected.
4. Educational objectives should also be so formulated that there is clear
distinctions among learning experiences required to attain different
behaviors.
5. Educational objectives should be developmental, representing roads to
transfer rather than terminal points.
Sources of Educational Objectives
1. Objectives are derived from felt needs, social values and ideals.
Educational objectives must emerge from continuous studies of
contemporary society, changing conditions, and trends, society, social
values, and ideals in the growing needs and demands.
2. It is derived from studies and researches.

Educational Objectives in the Philippines

In the Philippine Educational System, the fundamental aims of education
are provided in Sec. 3 if Article XIV of the 1987 constitution which states that:
1. Educational institution shall include the study of the constitution as
prescribed in the curriculum.
2. They shall inculcate patriotism and nationalism, foster love of humanity
and respect for human rights. Teach the rights and duties of citizenship
stronger than ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and
personal discipline, encourage creative thinking and technological
knowledge and promote vocational efficiency. Article II Sec. 17 states that
the state shall priority to education, science and technology, arts culture and
sports. Article XV also states that “The state recognizes the Filipino family
as the foundation of the nation.
 Points of View of the Curriculum
Curriculum - is a set of subject/ body of subject which is prepared by the
teachers for the students or learners.

Robert M. Hutchins – emphasized the basic education.

Joseph Schwab – stated that the curriculum is divided into chunk of
knowledge. (English, math, etc.) And the academic discipline
becomes the view of what the curriculum is.

Progressive Point of View of Curriculum – (experience is given

importance)
- curriculum is defined as the total learning experience of an
individual.

Coswell and Campbell – curriculum is the all experience/ total

experience of children acquired under the guidance of their
teachers.

Point of view on Curriculum Development – it connotes changes

which are systematic. It also produce positive changes,
development should be purposeful, planned and progressive.

Three Interacting Process in Curriculum Development

Planning Implementing Evaluation
 Types of Curriculum Operating in School
Allan Glatthorn – describes seven types of curriculum operating in school.

1. Recommended Curriculum – proposed by scholars and professional organizations.

It may come from a national agency like the Department of Education (DepEd),
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Department of Science and Technology
(DOST) or professional organization.

2. Written Curriculum – this includes documents, course of study or syllabi handed

down to the schools, districts, division, department or colleges for implementation.
Most of the written curriculums are made by the curriculum experts with the
participations of the teachers. Examples of these are the Basic Education Curriculum
(BEC). Another example is the written lesson plan of each classroom teacher made up
of objectives and planned activities of the teachers.

3. Taught Curriculum – the different planned which are put into action in the
classroom composed of taught curriculum. These are varied activities that are
implemented in order to arrive at the objectives or purpose of the written curriculum.

4. Supported Curriculum – this refers to the support curriculum that includes

materials, resources such as books, computers, audio-visual materials, laboratory
equipment, playground, zoos, and other facilities.

5. Assessed Curriculum – this refers to a tested or evaluated curriculum. At the end of

the teaching episodes, series of evaluation are being done by the teachers to determine
the extent of teaching or to tell if the student is having a progress. Assessment tools
like the pencil and paper test, authentic instruments like portfolio are being utilized.

6. Learned Curriculum – refers to the learning outcomes made by the students.

Learning outcomes are indicated by the results of the tests and changes in between
which can either be cognitive, affective and psychomotor.

7. Hidden Curriculum – this is unintended curriculum which is deliberately planned

but may modify behavior or influence learning outcomes. Examples of these are peer
influence, school environment, physical condition, teacher-learner interaction, mood
of teachers and many other factors make up the hidden curriculum.

Factors to be considered in Curriculum Development

6. Teaching-Learning Process
a. Teacher
b. Learner
c. Learning situation
7. Teaching-Learning Process
a. Teacher
b. Learner
c. Learning situation
8. Teaching-Learning Process
a. School
b. Community
9. Social Needs
Dimensions and Principles of Curriculum Design
Curriculum design provides clear relationship between and among the different
elements of the curriculum: objectives, content, activities and evaluation. Considering all
of these elements, as curriculum designer, one has look into the parameters or dimensions
upon which a design can be crafted.
Dimensions of Curriculum
Scope- (Tyler, 2004) defines curriculum as all content, topics, learning experiences and
organizing threads comprising the educational plans. Scope does not refer to the
cognitive content but, but also to the affective and psychomotor.
Sequence- contents and experiences are arranged in hierarchical manner. Some schools
formulate curricular objectives, content and experience by grade levels and
consider the stages of thinking.
Smith, Stanley, and Shore (1957) Introduced Principles for Sequence
1. Simple to complex learning
Content and experiences are organized from simple to complex, concrete to
abstract, from easy to difficult.
2. Prerequisite learning
It means that there are fundamental thing to be learned ahead. Example: 1.
addition- multiplication 2. words - phrase
3. Whole to part learning
The meaning can be very well understood if everything will be taken as a
whole. This principle is same as Gestalt Theory. Example:
1. forest before the trees 2. body systems to tissues/cells
4. Chronological learning
This principle is closely allied to history, political science, and world events.
The sequence can be arranged from the most recent to the distant past or vice
versa.
Major Principles for Organizing content in Units which can Also be
Applied to a Curriculum (Posner and Rudnitsky, 1944)
1. World-Related Sequence
Relationship that exist among people, objects or events of the world;
a. Space
- Spatial relations will be the basis if the sequence. Example:
1. Closest to farthest 2. bottom to top three east to west
b. Time
- The content is based from the earliest to the more recent.
- Same as Smith, Chronological Learning. Example:
1. Philippine president – first to current
2. Discoveries from earliest to present
c. Physical Attributes
- This principle refers to the physical characteristics of the
phenomena like age, shape, size, brightness and others. Example:
1. 3 regions, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao should be taken ahead of
Panay, Negros, Cebu and Bohol.
2. Heavenly bodies like stars, comets, galaxies should be ahead of planets.

2. Concept-Related Sequence
This arrangement reflects the organization of the conceptual world, how ideas
are related together in a logical manner.
 a. Class Relation
Class concept refers to the group or set of things that share common
practices. Teaching the characteristics of the whole class ahead of the
characteristics of the member of the class. Example:
1. Teach mammals before teaching specific animals.
2. Compare sound and light before teaching about wave motion.
b. Propositional Relation
Sequence is arranged so that evidence is presented ahead before
proposition. Example:
1. Teaching the principle of equal protection under the laws then proceed
to discuss Supreme Court decisions.
2. Study first the rules in moving decimal point before multiply, add,
divide, and subtract it.
3. Inquiry-Related Sequence
This is based upon the scientific method of inquiry. Example:
Scientific method- problem, hypothesis, observation, experimentation, evaluation
4. Learning-Related Sequence
This is based on the psychology of learning and how people learn experiences.
a. Empirical Prerequisites
Sequence primarily requires application based on empirical studies where
the basics are required before learning the next level. Example:
1. Initial consonants- complex words.
2. Teach catching and throwing the ball before batting.
b. Familiarity
What is familiar should be taken up first before the unfamiliar. Example:
1. Teach the peso before the dollar.
2. Identifying the animals in the community before those in Manila Zoo.
c. Difficulty
Easy content is taken ahead than the difficult one. Example:
1. Rhymes before the blank words..
d. Interest
Use these content and experiences to whet their appetite for learning.
These can arouse the curiosity of the learners. Example
1. Identify the different volcanoes before teaching about volcanism.
2. Identify the different beautiful scenery before different kinds of
landforms.
e. Continuity
This process enables the learners to strengthen the permanency of learning
and development of skills. Gerome Bruner calls this “spiral curriculum”
where the content is organized according to the interrelationship between
the structure/ pattern of a basic idea of major disciplines. Example:
1. Concepts of living things in science which continuously occurs in the
elementary curriculum but with different complexity from level to level

f. Integration
Everything is integrated and interconnected. Life is a series of emerging
themes. This is the essence of integration in the curriculum design.
Merging or integrate the subject like math to science.
g. Articulation
This can be done either vertically or horizontally. In vertical articulation,
contents are arranged from level to level or grade to grade so that the
content in a lower level is connected to the next level. In horizontal
articulation, it happens when the association is among or between
elements that happens at the same time. Like social studies in grade six is
related to science in grade six.
h. Balance
Equitable assignment of content, time, experiences and other elements to
establish the “balance in curriculum design”..